Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing dynasty.

[citation needed] Known for advocating controlled reform and modernization of Chinese troops, he served as the governor of Shanxi Province and viceroy of Huguang, Liangguang and Liangjiang, and also as a member of the Grand Council.

His pseudonyms were Xiangyan (香岩; Xiāngyán), Hugong (壺公; 壶公; Húgōng), Wujing Jushi (無競居士; 无竞居士; Wújìng Jūshì) and Baobing (抱冰; Bàobīng).

In 1852, he sat for the provincial-level imperial examination in Shuntian Prefecture (present-day Beijing) and achieved the top position as jieyuan (解元) in the juren class.

He was then admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a bianxiu (編修; editor) before taking up other positions, including jiaoxi (教習), shidu (侍讀) and shijiang (侍講).

Zhang demanded for Chonghou's execution and urged the Qing government to stand up to Russia and declare the treaty invalid.

In October 1894, he telegraphed Li Hongzhang, the Viceroy of Zhili, proposing the purchase of naval equipment, and loans from foreign banks.

He further advocated this, and in addition the purchase of arms, alliance with European powers, and the "clear division of rewards and punishments" for troops, once the Japanese crossed the Yalu River into China in late October, threatening the northeastern provinces.

Zhang held on a strong opinion on the issue of ceding Taiwan to the Japanese, per the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.

[5][6] In late February 1895, he made his stance clear to the Qing government, and even offered ideas on how to prevent the loss of Taiwan.

In 1896, acting under an imperial decree, Zhang moved to Wuchang to serve as the Viceroy of Huguang, an area comprising Hubei and Hunan provinces.

[14] In Wuchang, Zhang effectively trained and equipped modern units of sappers, engineers, cavalry, police, artillery and infantry.

Foreign observers reported that, when their training was complete, the troops stationed in the Wuchang garrison were the equal of contemporary European forces.

[15] During the Boxer Rebellion, Zhang, along with some other regional governors who commanded substantial modernized armies, refused to participate in the central government's declaration of war against the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In Exhortation to Study (勸學篇), Zhang brought up reform methodology of implementing new schools at the expense of Buddhist and Taoist monasteries.

[23] Kang Youwei, another late Qing reformist, later expressed similar mode of thinking - he also advocated aiding modern education at the cost of temples.

[24] Historians commonly regard Zhang Zhidong's reform as an attempt to reconcile modernity and China's existing social fabric.

[26][27] When the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, Zhang, along with Li Hongzhang and others, participated in The Mutual Protection of Southeast China.